Chelsea 5 Manchester City 1
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Manchester City's team selection – and Manuel Pellegrini will argue with anyone who accuses him of going too far with his protests – when the story comes to be written of the 2016 FA Cup this feels like an unsatisfactory part of the narrative.
This tie ought to have been a cracker. Instead, there was an air of inevitability as soon as the teams were announced and it became clear Pellegrini was not making idle threats about fielding a scratch XI and, in effect, sacrificing the competition.
It would be wrong to say his line-up represented a white flag of surrender but it was a close-run thing at times and Chelsea will go into their quarter-final away to Everton knowing their luck was in because of the combination of television scheduling, a Champions League assignment for City in Ukraine on Wednesday, and the overwhelming sense that Pellegrini was absolutely determined to make his point.
In total, there were six teenagers in Pellegrini’s team, including five who were making their full debuts, and two more youth-team graduates coming off the bench. Pellegrini had made nine changes and the shirt numbers of his team totted up to 447, including a 72, a 75 and a 76. Away supporters usually get the whole Shed end for these fixtures but City’s supporters did not even fill half – and, for anyone who cares about this competition, it is a shame to see the FA Cup reduced to this level.
Whose fault is that? Pellegrini, prioritising the midweek game against Dynamo Kyiv, blames a combination of the Football Association, the BBC and the Metropolitan police for not staging the tie a day or two earlier. The BBC’s response is there was no Friday slot and the police have made it clear the game could not have been staged on Saturday because Fulham were playing Charlton. Pellegrini remains convinced City have had a raw deal and, after that, all that really can be said is that the tie had a predictable conclusion.
At half-time, a raw and inexperienced team had succeeded in subduing the crowd, going in 1-1, after Diego Costa's ninth goal in his last 12 appearances was followed by David Faupala's equaliser barely a minute later. Faupala, a 19-year-old striker, joined City in July after running down his contract at Lens and he was a tricky opponent for Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic in the centre of Chelsea's defence.
Yet the difference between the two sides after the interval was stark. Willian re-established Chelsea's lead within three minutes and from that point onwards he game quickly lurched away from City. Gary Cahill's volley made it 3-1 five minutes later and the game had become a damage-limitation exercise for City by the time Eden Hazard scored direct from a free-kick midway through the second half. Willy Caballero saved a penalty from Oscar during that flurry of goals but another of Chelsea's substitutes, Bertrand Traore, completed the scoring with a looping header late on to equal Chelsea's biggest home win of the season.
For City, Pellegrini must wonder what might have been if Faupala had made more of the game's first opportunity, having beaten a couple of players with an ambitious run. Manu Garcia, an 18-year-old Spaniard, will have enjoyed the moment he dropped his shoulder and left Cesc Fabregas behind and Tosin Adarabioyo, a tall, rangy centre half with a high-kneed running style, should be better for the experience. Yet City were terribly vulnerable in defence and Hazard in particular took advantage.
Hazard was fiercely criticised for his performance against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League but he looked much more like his old self and played a part in each of the first three goals. Now he just has to show he can do it against a side that is not essentially made up of youth-team players.
FA Cup quarter-final draw: Reading v Crystal Palace; Everton v Chelsea; Arsenal or Hull v Watford; Shrewsbury or Manchester United v West Ham. Ties to be played March 11th-14th.
(Guardian service)
